“Close readings are about responding to students. They're not always a linear process. It's a journey we take students on as we get them closer and closer to deep understanding without telling them what to think about the text.” –Dr. Doug Fisher
On Day 14, Dr. Fisher revisits the importance of text-dependent questions, with an emphasis on how inferential questions build on what students learned in their previous readings, and moving forward to add their own background knowledge, experiences, etc., while making logical inferences with the text.
“Today’s focus is on inferential questions,” Dr. Fisher tells us. Students have now dug deeply into the text. They understand it at the literal and structural levels, and they’re thinking about implications from the text. We’re asking students to take what they know from the text but add their background knowledge and their experiences with the world, make some logical inferences, and focus on questions about opinions and arguments. Students should provide evidence from the text to bolster and support their opinions and arguments.”
Revisit the text, teaching points, and the literal and structural questions that you developed and used in the previous session.
Craft at least four inferential questions. Consider writing questions around logical inferences, forming opinions and arguments, or comparing this text with other texts. List the inferential questions in this template.
Then, ask students to return to the text and read it again using the inferential questions to frame their reading. Have them discuss their responses to the inferential questions that you’ve posed.
This template can be used across multiple sessions to help guide the development of literal, structural, and inferential questions, and progression into inspirational tasks.
This log can be used to capture new learnings as you develop close reading techniques.
